ERA is a research study comparing group arts therapies with group talking therapy. The aim is to see if group arts therapies are effective for people with different types of mental illness. We would like service users to try out one of two therapies- arts or talking- which both include regular meetings in groups.

What are the arts therapies?

The ERA started in September 2018 to November 2021 and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The Chief Investigator of the project is Dr Catherine Carr and the Co-Chief Investigator is Professor Stefan Priebe.

ERA is a collaborative project with academic institutions, NHS Trusts, service users and commissioners. It is co-ordinated by East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) in the Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Service Development, which is supported by Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) and the Pragmatic Clinical Trials Unit (PCTU).

Trial update in response to COVID-19

In line with advice from our sponsor NOCLOR, the ERA study took a pause on research activities in March 2020. As of March 2021, we slowly restarted the study prioritising the start of our therapy groups for participants enrolled prior to March 2020. Since, we have ran groups in East London, Bedford and Bath and are continuing to recruit patients to the study in East London, Bedford and Central and North West London. For further information, please contact ERA trial manager Emma at emma.medlicott1@nhs.net.